Does anyone know if the knew diagnostic reports tell you an average passing score nationally? Is it by discipline. If so, does anyone have an idea what the transportation depth might be? Just curious. Good luck to you all who didn't find your results yet and to those who didn't make it keep your heads up. Do it in April and you will!

Does anyone know if the knew diagnostic reports tell you an average passing score nationally? Is it by discipline. If so, does anyone have an idea what the transportation depth might be? Just curious. Good luck to you all who didn't find your results yet and to those who didn't make it keep your heads up. Do it in April and you will!

I think you could determine the average passing score with the new diagnostic. In each area you could find where you are +/- from the average passing, and compare that cumulation to your own score.

The average passing score is PASS. Trying to figure out the score is a worthless and pointless excercise in futility.

I will ask this question again: What is the point of knowing the score? If you pass, someone who got an 80% will be issued the same license that a 99% score got. Will you study differently if you knew the score? I would hope not considering that only 25% of the test questions are "re-used" from one exam to the next. Would you take the exam differently? Of course not, you wouldn't turn in your exam early if you only answered 75% of the questions but were confident you got them right.

My advice, take up a hobby and preferably one that has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the NCEES (unless it's studying for the next exam, but thats not really a hobby)...

The average passing score is PASS. Trying to figure out the score is a worthless and pointless excercise in futility.

I will ask this question again: What is the point of knowing the score? If you pass, someone who got an 80% will be issued the same license that a 99% score got. Will you study differently if you knew the score? I would hope not considering that only 25% of the test questions are "re-used" from one exam to the next. Would you take the exam differently? Of course not, you wouldn't turn in your exam early if you only answered 75% of the questions but were confident you got them right.

My advice, take up a hobby and preferably one that has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the NCEES (unless it's studying for the next exam, but thats not really a hobby)...

Actually Dexman, for those people that are still waiting on their results, the passing score can be used as a way for all October 2010 examinees to re-evaluate their confidence of passing this time. That way, if, for example, a candidate felt confident on 65% of the material on the exam, yet the average passing score reported was 52/80 for his/her discipline, then that candidate should probably start hitting the books again (or perhaps, invest their money on better studying material ASAP.)

That's kind of what I was getting at with the thread. It's more of a gauge and to boost confidence waiting for the exam. Of course if one fails, they should study to score 100% on the next exam. But it's this intermediate period where yes all of want to ignore but just can't. Those waiting know the feeling. Waiting for the results is almost as bad as studying for the exam.

You all have extra brain capacity to do that type of thinking while taking the test at the same time. I did everything I could just to make it through the test, let alone try to think about how many (percent) I think got right.

So tend to agree with dexman on this as it would only add to the waiting nerves.

You all have extra brain capacity to do that type of thinking while taking the test at the same time. I did everything I could just to make it through the test, let alone try to think about how many (percent) I think got right.

So tend to agree with dexman on this as it would only add to the waiting nerves.

I concur. I have no idea how many questions I got right/wrong. It was a multiple choice exam... if I knew the answer I put was wrong, I would have picked a different one.

Civil should be 56/80 in order to pass. I remeber someone got 55/80 (long time ago) still fail.

I think the 70% of correct answers is the pass for Civil. The broken line in the bar graphs in my diagnostic for the passing candidates is always constant for any subject area. The subject areas where I was closest to the passing examinees were around 70% (in terms of the correct answers). I got 45/80 in water resources and failed.

Civil should be 56/80 in order to pass. I remeber someone got 55/80 (long time ago) still fail.

I think the 70% of correct answers is the pass for Civil. The broken line in the bar graphs in my diagnostic for the passing candidates is always constant for any subject area. The subject areas where I was closest to the passing examinees were around 70% (in terms of the correct answers). I got 45/80 in water resources and failed.

Civil should be 56/80 in order to pass. I remeber someone got 55/80 (long time ago) still fail.

I think the 70% of correct answers is the pass for Civil. The broken line in the bar graphs in my diagnostic for the passing candidates is always constant for any subject area. The subject areas where I was closest to the passing examinees were around 70% (in terms of the correct answers). I got 45/80 in water resources and failed.

Civil should be 56/80 in order to pass. I remeber someone got 55/80 (long time ago) still fail.

I think the 70% of correct answers is the pass for Civil. The broken line in the bar graphs in my diagnostic for the passing candidates is always constant for any subject area. The subject areas where I was closest to the passing examinees were around 70% (in terms of the correct answers). I got 45/80 in water resources and failed.

Not to mention the way I read the note at the bottom of the sample diagnostic report, it sounds to me like one person could get an 70% and pass while the next guy with a 70% might fail even though they took the same exams. The note that I'm referring to states "Performance in a knowledge area significantly below that of the average passing candidate contributed to your failing the exam." This means to me that even if you do a super dooper band up job on the entire test but bomb one subject area really badly compared to what NCEES determines a passing PE taking your exam should know, then you fail.

Actually Dexman, for those people that are still waiting on their results, the passing score can be used as a way for all October 2010 examinees to re-evaluate their confidence of passing this time. That way, if, for example, a candidate felt confident on 65% of the material on the exam, yet the average passing score reported was 52/80 for his/her discipline, then that candidate should probably start hitting the books again (or perhaps, invest their money on better studying material ASAP.)

No. Waste of time and effort. Relax until the results come in, then take action if necessary.

Civil should be 56/80 in order to pass. I remeber someone got 55/80 (long time ago) still fail.

I think the 70% of correct answers is the pass for Civil. The broken line in the bar graphs in my diagnostic for the passing candidates is always constant for any subject area. The subject areas where I was closest to the passing examinees were around 70% (in terms of the correct answers). I got 45/80 in water resources and failed.

Not to mention the way I read the note at the bottom of the sample diagnostic report, it sounds to me like one person could get an 70% and pass while the next guy with a 70% might fail even though they took the same exams. The note that I'm referring to states "Performance in a knowledge area significantly below that of the average passing candidate contributed to your failing the exam." This means to me that even if you do a super dooper band up job on the entire test but bomb one subject area really badly compared to what NCEES determines a passing PE taking your exam should know, then you fail.

That note makes my failing last April seem a bit more clear now. According to my diagnostic report out of the 10 subjects I got 80% or above on all but two of them. The two I got a 24% and a 35% correct, so I couldn't for the life of me figure out how I failed the exam, but now that they're adding that note it makes it very clear. Seems very unfair to me.

I don't comment ever, but I think this is worth noting that NCEES website said that:

"your exam results are determined by the number of items you answered correctly for the exam in its entirety. There are no minimum requirements for particular sections or topics within an exam. You are not penalized for incorrect answers. You may request that your exam answer sheet be manually verified. A fee is charged for this service."

I don't comment ever, but I think this is worth noting that NCEES website said that:

"your exam results are determined by the number of items you answered correctly for the exam in its entirety. There are no minimum requirements for particular sections or topics within an exam. You are not penalized for incorrect answers. You may request that your exam answer sheet be manually verified. A fee is charged for this service."

I think it implies that because someone got a 70 and passed, and then someone got a 70 and failed because they got more questions wrong in a particular topic is not accurate.

"There are no min. requirements for particular sections or topics within an exam."

I find that noteworthy....

I hadn't read that. I retract my previous statement. I think the note on the diagnostic report is misleading. I think the bottom line is that even with this new diagnostic report it's a futile effort to try and determine how they grade the exam and how they determine a passing score.

I think it implies that because someone got a 70 and passed, and then someone got a 70 and failed because they got more questions wrong in a particular topic is not accurate.

"There are no min. requirements for particular sections or topics within an exam."

I find that noteworthy....

What led you to believe that it was otherwise?

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! I didn't think that it was otherwise... why don't you read this post from the beginning and note that others thought they failed because they received too low of a score on a particular topic.

I don't comment ever, but I think this is worth noting that NCEES website said that:

"your exam results are determined by the number of items you answered correctly for the exam in its entirety. There are no minimum requirements for particular sections or topics within an exam. You are not penalized for incorrect answers. You may request that your exam answer sheet be manually verified. A fee is charged for this service."

I think it implies that because someone got a 70 and passed, and then someone got a 70 and failed because they got more questions wrong in a particular topic is not accurate.

"There are no min. requirements for particular sections or topics within an exam."

I find that noteworthy....

What led you to believe that it was otherwise?

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! I didn't think that it was otherwise... why don't you read this post from the beginning and note that others thought they failed because they received too low of a score on a particular topic.

I think it implies that because someone got a 70 and passed, and then someone got a 70 and failed because they got more questions wrong in a particular topic is not accurate.

"There are no min. requirements for particular sections or topics within an exam."

I find that noteworthy....

What led you to believe that it was otherwise?

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! I didn't think that it was otherwise... why don't you read this post from the beginning and note that others thought they failed because they received too low of a score on a particular topic.

Not all questions are valid!

Ha AVD...I know I know. The suspense has put me a bit on edge, plus looking at BEAN PE's blog in his signature and realizing half the snow in New England melted away last weekend has made me even that much more bitter.....

There was a comment about taking this exam and aiming for 100% score. I have to disagree. Chances are that with the limited amount of time and the vast area of the subject, aiming for 100% is an impossibility. Yes aiming for above 70% or so is likely and rational. I believe that taking this exam one has to focus on getting what seems to be feasible for his/her strengths, and given any time left quickly make as educated decisions as possible on material that may be fuzzy to him/her. Claiming to try for 100% is unrealistic. And yes, having an idea how well you probably did may actually allow you to take appropriate action for the future. I made a huge mistake of not immediately plunging in the books again after I walked out. I estimated that I scored about 60% and that may have been a passing score. Had I known that a minimum of 70% is necessary I would have put much more time and started studying much earlier.

What I did for Civil was to look up the threads on diagnostic scores and we tend to get a target score. For example, this past fall it was 55 for Civil Transportation. While in the Spring of last year it was around 53 according to the posted scores. Look in the electrical threads and try to gage a range. I'm pretty sure that a 55 will pass Civil Transportation and maybe even lower depending on what kind of test was offered.

Unless you're planning to use the exam as just one more diagnostic session, I disagree about the recommendation to not aim for 100%. Studying to squeak by is setting yourself up for failure. It's not like they don't tell you what's going to be on the exam, and you have to blindly study everything that could possibly be related to engineering. They provide a pretty good list of study topics in your discipline, so you should know where to focus your efforts. If you find yourself lost in those topics, maybe you need to reevaluate whether or not you're actually ready to take the exam.

Back when they still reported passing scores, a friend of mine was pretty nervous about taking the FE, even after studying everything that was supposed to be on the exam, every day, for months. When he got his 70% passing score back, he jokingly said it looks like he studied "just enough" to pass. Of course, if he had only studied 70%, 80%, or even 90% of the material, there is no doubt he would have failed.

My two cents.

I was not aware that they tell us what will be on the exam. Unless if we are referring to the 7 or 8 books that are given as standard references, i.e. ASCE 7, IBC, ACI318, AISC manual etc. And yes, I have seen some questions coming out of some very obscure scenarios that are rather hard to imagine and you definitely need to have those references with you because if rely solely upon Lindeburg you are definitely going to miss those very special problems.

A friend of mine passed Civil some years ago and because he did so well he was selected to produce exercises to be used in future exams. His score was 85%. Now if that is a score so good that you are asked as a volunteer to contribute, it is obvious that a score of 100% is very unlikely. I never claim that someone should not pursue this goal with 100% of his strength, but to anticipate a perfect score of 100% seems unrealistic to me. I also believe that tests where someone can score 100% are failed tests as they do not indicate the maximum potential of that candidate. Also it does not help in order to have a proper curve of the performance.

It seems that my previous comment was grossly misinterpreted. I estimated that I scored above or about 60%. I was very erroneously given the impression that above 60% would possibly/likely be a passing grade, so I did not start studying for the next exams immediately. I was sure I was not going to score in the 70s and that is actually what happened, my score was within that range. That is how the average passing score would be useful, ..simply by estimating how well you did and getting a good idea if you need to get back to the PE books again as soon as possible. After all, that is why we get a report if we fail, indicating our weaknesses to address them. If you walk out of the exams and you feel really good and confident you will not go back to hit the books and focus on things you do not even practice or never plan to practice.

Unless you're planning to use the exam as just one more diagnostic session, I disagree about the recommendation to not aim for 100%. Studying to squeak by is setting yourself up for failure. It's not like they don't tell you what's going to be on the exam, and you have to blindly study everything that could possibly be related to engineering. They provide a pretty good list of study topics in your discipline, so you should know where to focus your efforts. If you find yourself lost in those topics, maybe you need to reevaluate whether or not you're actually ready to take the exam.

Back when they still reported passing scores, a friend of mine was pretty nervous about taking the FE, even after studying everything that was supposed to be on the exam, every day, for months. When he got his 70% passing score back, he jokingly said it looks like he studied "just enough" to pass. Of course, if he had only studied 70%, 80%, or even 90% of the material, there is no doubt he would have failed.

My two cents.

I was not aware that they tell us what will be on the exam.

They do - on the NCEES exam specifications for your depth. After taking the exam it is accurate.

Unless you're planning to use the exam as just one more diagnostic session, I disagree about the recommendation to not aim for 100%. Studying to squeak by is setting yourself up for failure. It's not like they don't tell you what's going to be on the exam, and you have to blindly study everything that could possibly be related to engineering. They provide a pretty good list of study topics in your discipline, so you should know where to focus your efforts. If you find yourself lost in those topics, maybe you need to reevaluate whether or not you're actually ready to take the exam.

Back when they still reported passing scores, a friend of mine was pretty nervous about taking the FE, even after studying everything that was supposed to be on the exam, every day, for months. When he got his 70% passing score back, he jokingly said it looks like he studied "just enough" to pass. Of course, if he had only studied 70%, 80%, or even 90% of the material, there is no doubt he would have failed.

My two cents.

I was not aware that they tell us what will be on the exam.

They do - on the NCEES exam specifications for your depth. After taking the exam it is accurate.